Israeli police to deploy firefighting helicopters

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Israeli Police helicopters are to undergo refurbishment that will enhance their abilities, enabling them to conduct firefighting, search and rescue operations from the air, cooperation between the police and the fire brigade as well as joint aerial management of events by the police and fire fighting authorities.
The Ministry of Public Security just completed a rigorous process of selecting four groups that will participate in the bid for the helicopters refurbishment project: IAI, ELBIT Systems, CHIM-NIR and Beit Shemesh Engines, Lahak and PHI from the US. The project is estimated between a few dozen and a few hundred million US dollars, with the planned refurbishment and maintenance scheduled for 15 years or more. The ministry is pleased that the bid will have four participants, one of which is a reputable US company.

iHLS Israel Homeland Security
The helicopter refurbishment project is one of the lessons from the great fire of the Carmel mountain range: to enable police and firefighting chiefs to share the same helicopter for the purposes of coordinating operations from the air. The helicopters will be able to take active part in firefighting by discharging fire retardant from the air at key locations other firefighting aircraft cannot reach, for example. due to winds.
The refurbished helicopters are planned to have the ability to charge between 600 and 1,000 liters of water at one concentrated point as well as to transport firefighters from one location to another for operational activities. According to the plan, each helicopter could carry up to six passengers and will be able to conduct search and rescue missions from skyscrapers using an airborne rescue platform. The helicopter will also be used as an ‘airboss’, an airborne police and firefighting command and control HQ.
Israeli Fire Fighting and Rescue Authority’s multi-year plan is to create a fleet of 14 firefighting planes and 6 helicopters. This combination of police activity and firefighting is in line with the Ministry of Public Security’s policy to encourage cooperation between its various arms, synchronization and educated usage of all its resources.